By Ali Abare Abubakar, Abuja and Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri
- Returning students mistaken for them – Borno govt
- 50 fleeing insurgents arrested in Biu
Contrary to earlier reports suggesting that an unspecified number of the Chibok girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect in April have been released yesterday, military authorities have confirmed that no single abducted girl was found.
Defence Spokesperson, Chris Olukolade, made the clarification, refuting the story making the rounds which claimed that two Toyota Hiace buses loaded with the rescued girls were driven into the Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri yesterday evening.
A release issued by PRNigeria, speaking on behalf of the military authorities, noted that against the widespread news on the purported release of the Chibok girls yesterday, the Nigerian Defence Headquarters has refuted the story.
According to the release, Olukolade refuted the report, saying that “the story circulating in respect of the release of the Chibok girls is not true.”
He explained that the buses that drove into the barracks were conveying “other individuals.”
However, a source close to the Borno state government told Peoples Daily that the entire episode began when soldiers at the Maimalari Barracks, on sighting the two loaded buses conveying some of the abducted girls that earlier escaped and were about to be given scholarships to further their studies, rushed to journalists claiming that fresh girls were released.
“Some people on sighting the buses reached a journalist likely resident outside Borno State and misinformed him that the military had rescued more school girls. The journalist filed the story without proper background check and the editors in the journalist’s medium, claimed to have verified the information from the Defence headquarters and then went to press. This is what happened,” the source said.
According to the source, “We are all aware that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar gave six of the girls scholarship. The Borno state government has been making effort to secure admission for the abducted girls that escaped and who have undergone rehabilitation.
“The girls were conveyed to the barracks preparatory to their movement to their various schools only for soldiers to circulate false information indicating that new abducted girls were released” the source added.
The source who spoke under condition of anonymity, lambasted the military authorities for what he described as “their overzealousness” and desire to take credit even when they could not confirm reports making the rounds.
Meanwhile, PRNigeria gathered that the DHQ may address the press this week on some recent developments in the counter insurgency campaigns where many terrorists were killed and others captured by the Nigerian troops.
In a separate development, soldiers in Biu local government area of Borno state yesterday reportedly arrested 50 fleeing members of the Boko Haram fighters who were hidden under a truck heading towards Gombe.
Security sources and members of the youth vigilante popularly known as Civilian JTF told newsmen that the captured insurgents are currently in their custody at the Barrack in Biu.
According to the sources, some youth vigilante in Biu suspected a truck carrying sheeps and goats at the top and stop the truck for routine check when they discoverd 50 young men hiding underneath.
The suspects according to the sources confessed being fighters of the dreaded sect, who are on the run following the killing of their leader in a battle at Konduga town of Konduga local government area of Borno state last week.
It was gathered that the suspected militants who pleaded for mercy also promised to cooperate with security operatives by giving them useful information on the whereabouts of other sect members on the run as well as other group holding the Chibok girls.
“Most of the suspects were between the ages of 18 and 25 and speaks Kanuri and Hausa. They also revealed places they have fought jihad, which included Bama and Konduga, but were overwhelmed by the military and disbanded following the killing of their leader, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau”, the sources further added.
